Oct 2, 2013

I originally posted this recipe way back in 2009, before I owned a decent camera and I just had to give this a photo makeover (the photo was so bad I'm surprised anyone made it at all). It's so darn good you won't miss the pasta, and think of all the calories you're saving by making the swap! It's also low-carb, clean, gluten-free and perfect for my paleo followers out there too!

The beauty of this dish is you can totally make this family friendly. I know my kids prefer to have their meat sauce with pasta (plus they need their carbs too) so I cook some pasta for them and serve this with spaghetti squash for my husband and I. It's a very generous amount and extremely satisfying.

Of course, you can swap the beef for turkey if you wish, and you can certainly make the spaghetti squash in the microwave which is so much quicker. The sauce can be frozen for a later date and reheated when for a busier night. I've never tried freezing spaghetti squash, anyone out there know if I can? So there you go, a meal that can make the whole family happy – gotta love that!

1/4 cup white wine (yes, you can leave this out if you dont drink wine)

1 bay leaf

salt and fresh pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds and membrane. Season with salt and bake about 1 hour, or longer if needed on a baking sheet, cut side up.

If you prefer the microwave, cut squash in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds and fibers and place on a microwave safe dish and cover. Microwave 8-9 minutes or until soft.

In a large deep sauté pan, melt butter and add oil. Add onions, celery
and carrots and sauté on medium-low for about 3 to 4 minutes, until
soft. Add the beef and season with salt. Brown the meat and cook,
breaking it into smaller pieces with your spoon until cooked trhough.
When cooked, add the tomatoes and adjust salt and pepper to taste. Add
wine and simmer until it reduces a bit, then add bay leaf and cover,
reducing heat to low. Simmer at least an hour, stirring occasionally.

When spaghetti squash is cooked, let it cool for about 10 minutes. When cool, use a fork to remove flesh, which will come out in spaghetti looking strands. Keep covered and set aside keeping warm until sauce is ready. Serve topped with meat sauce and grated parmesan cheese, if desired.

Made this tonight and it was delicious. Added some minced garlic and italian seasoning. My boys even ate it and they are very picky! Thanks for the hint on the Tuttorosso tomatoes. They are great! Made the Santa Fe Crockpot Chicken the night before and it was great too! Thanks for the wonderful recipes.

Since all of the points are in the sauce, I could use just a 1/2 cup and points would be cut in half, right? Sounds like a dumb ? but I don't like my "pasta" swimming in sauce. That would really be a light dinner on days I don't have a lot of points left. Add a side salad or another vegie, and I'm good to go!! :)Thanks!

We tried this tonight and the kids ate it up. We told them that it was spaghetti, the second that one of them heard "Squash" she stopped eating even though she was almost done. I modified the recipe a bit, we (except my husband) don't care for the chunks of tomatoes so we used Tomato sauce instead.. We didn't use the wine or the bay leaf either. It was pretty good for the modifications we made.

We had 1/2 cup of sauce and 1 cup of squash so we counted that as only 2.5/3 points + .2 oz of cheese(4 total. It was DELICIOUS...Thanks for the recipes we are excited to try more....

making this tonight!! your recipes are a GOD SEND!! I can only eat so many Smart Ones dinners!! plan on using diced tomatoes since that's what I have on hand, will any adjustments need to be made inorder for that substitution to work?? Thanks again!

Gina,You have wonderful recipes. I am making this one right now. I did add a little italian spices because it was not quite spicy enough for my family the way it was but yummy ! We make a different recipe everyday! Love all we have tried. Had lasagna rollups last week, oriental meatballs and we are planning to make crock pot chili but it is hot again in California!Nancy

I am eating this recipe right now and I LOVE IT. I followed the directions but did add mushrooms I needed to use up. OH, I didn't put the wine in the sauce; I'm drinking it with the meal. Gets a BIG smiling face for me!

I am making this tonight and it smells amazing. I have tasted the sauce as it is simmering and it's tasty. My husband just informed me that we won't be using jar spaghetti sauce anymore and I will be making this sauce:) Thanks for sharing this recipe.

Quick question: Since I am counting calories and not points, are the calories listed just for the suace, or does that include the spaghetti squash? We don't have that here and I am going to try the sauce over whole wheat noodles. Thanks in advance for your response!! And LOVE the site!!

This was awesome!! It was the first time our house had ever had a spaghetti squash in it. We loved it. However, holy cow, I needed a chain saw to cut my squash was not expecting that! I think in my mind I was expecting it to be similar to a pumpkin...Any tips?

Very good. We'd never tried spaghetti squash. I accidentally let my squash get cold; I think I would have liked it even more if the squash was still hot. The meat sauce is the BEST sauce I've ever had! Prep was pretty easy, with the exception of cutting the squash...I had to call the husband in to take care of that for me, even after I nuked it for a couple of minutes. Thanks for another great recipe!

This was delicious! I made it today and was so pleased when my boyfriend even wanted a 2nd helping! I love your site & have tried several of your recipes. Each one is amazing! Who said eating healthy can't be tasty too?

I made this for supper tonight, and my husband and I both loved it. It was our first experience with spaghetti squash, and I liked the crunchy texture. I will definitely make this again. I am on Weight Watchers, and this was a great way to enjoy the deliciousness of spaghetti sauce without the extra points that the pasta adds.

I recently told my husband that we both really need to learn how to cook all over again. I was taught how to cook by my mother who is now 86. Your recipes are helping me to cook delicious foods that are much healthier... thanks so much! I truly appreciate all of your hard work.

A friend gave be a easy way to cook spaghetti squash. Use a fork or knife and puncture the squash 20 times. Put on a microwave safe dish (whole) and mircowave for 20 minutes. Let cool and cut in half. So easy and delicious.

i'm a new cook, you could say, i never cooked until a few months ago. thank god for you, gina! i have tried a few of your recipes already and i love that they were pretty easy to follow, even for a beginner like me :) i made this tonight - i was nervous because i've never made homemade sauce or spaghetti squash! i skipped the celery, wine, and bay leaf and added a bit of dried oregano and thyme and it turned out great! thank you so much for all of your great, healthy, recipes!

This is probably a dumb question but does the calories include the squash or is it just the sauce? I'm also looking for freezable recipes as I have a 4,6 and 8 yr old and need to make quick and healthy meals. Are most of your recipes freezable?

BTW, I absolutely LOVE your site!!! I'm not sure exactly how I came across it but I am on cloud nine over the fact that I did. Instead of having a healthy lifestyle consisting of bland food, I now a large selection of food to choose from. Thanks for sharing all of your wonderful recipes!

Thanks Chantal, yes it includes the spaghetti squash, see serving size above. All my freezer friendly recipes are labeled so, you can access them in the list on the right column or I also have a Pinterest board.

I made something just like this last week, and I thought to myself, I wonder if Gina has ever posted a cool recipe for spaghetti squash and meat sauce. So crazy! I will definitely be making this recipe soon!

I've frozen spaghetti squash before. I found that it gets large frozen water crystals, so this time I'm going to use vacuum seal bags. I find it's expensive except this time of year, so it'll be good to stock up a bit in the freezer.

Agree that it is overcooked, but I don't think you need to check it every 10 minutes. Start checking it at around 35-40 minutes, and you'll get an idea of how much longer it needs to cook. If it's still watery, throw it into a hot saute pan for a minute or so before serving to help dry it out a bit.

Also be sure you're using the fork to pull the strands across from side to side instead of top to bottom of the cut halves - you have to pull WITH the grain. Pulling top to bottom will create the mashed/short strands.

I have made this before and it is absolutely delicious. I added some garlic and hot sauce - as we like it a little on the spicy side. It is an old stand by. I also make the sauce with some fresh tomatoes - and freeze. It is so easy to pull the sauce out of the freezer when I am in a hurry.

Gina- I am not understanding how you calculate your points, I just put everything into the recipe builder that had points, the butter, the oil, the wine and the meat. It came out to 19 points plus for the whole recipe, that would be 2 points plus per serving? Did you mean to say it fed 4 people?

I make this with veggie "meatballs." One thing we go through a lot of it flavored olive oil, which I use in this recipe. I put a little tuscan herb olive oil on a paper towel and brush the squash before baking. When making the sauce, I use the butter olive oil. The oils can be a little spendy, but we get them from a local shop so we are supporting our local economy - and they are delicious :-)

We are great fans of spaghetti sauce. Just wanted to let you know that I have frozen cooked spaghetti sauce before with some success - just slightly undercook it (still slightly crunchy but shreds easily). Then put it in containers and freeze. It does have additional moisture when it thaws, but I drain most of that off, cover it and microwave it which finishes off the cooking and doesn't get mushy. Good luck

I had been wanting to try spaghetti squash, so when this recipe popped up, I was thrilled! I changed two things though. One, we didn't have any wine, so that was omitted. Two, as the meat ragu was cooking away, happily, happily on the stove top, garlic powder and Italian seasonings just jumped right in there! I didn't try to stop them either, they had been begging to join the party anyway.

Oh. My. Goodness! This is delicious! I was so very happy that I was making it for myself to take to work for dinner all week. I don't want to share! Delicious!!!!!

thank you, thank you, thank you! i made this for my paleo boyfriend and me last night and it was phenom! i'm a self-professed squash hater, but will force myself to eat my veggies just because they're healthy for me. my boyfriend went for seconds and i can't wait for leftovers tonight. maybe i was wrong about hating squash...

I made this last night and it was delicious! The spaghetti squash is perfect with this sauce! I did add a little oregano and basil to the sauce after I tried it as the recipe is. Even my squash hating hubby liked it! Definitely a keeper! Thank you!

I have made this recipe 3 times (leaving out the onion & wine due to personal preference) and I have to say... it is easy but still very delicious!I tend to be heavy handed on the spices and find Rachael Ray's Italian spice blend really adds perfectly to this dish.I have a rather closed minded family when it comes to new or different foods, but this recipe was truly a hit. These recipes come out as described, taste great, and provide nutritious guilt-free meals. I LOVE this blog.

I came across this recipe, and site, about a year ago. Addicted to both! Just purchased her new cookbook and can't wait to dive in to that!I use ground Italian Turkey for this dish to take it even one step further on the healthy scale and even my husband who normally shrivels his nose at ground turkey loves this dish too!